First Contact
by CrazyCanadian
Summary: A future earth has begun exploration of the galaxy via mysterious wormholes. When a warship and science vessel are sent through the newest one, they find themselves in a universe that is populated by a host of different species, locked in bitter warfare
1. Chapter 1

**The heavy cruiser moved away from Earth. The crew was composed of the best from all over the Services and they knew it. Their mission was to escort a survey vessel with a dozen scientists on board to investigate reports of a new wormhole which had opened up close to Mars.**

**The wormhole junctions were the prime means that enabled human travelers to go faster than light and let them hop to distant areas of the galaxy in an instant.**

**To date only five had been opened. But all of them had led to clusters of habitable worlds, which Earth's leaders had been quick to colonize. This would be the sixth and, from the signs, the largest wormhole ever opened by the Imperial Survey Company.**

**Captain James O'Connell, Captain of the HMS Imperial Terra, stilled his hands as they began to smooth his uniform yet again. This was a momentous occasion, and yet with it came the danger, or opportunity depending upon how one looked at it, of encountering an alien race.**

**Fortunately the odds of that had decreased greatly as each new wormhole was opened without incident. In all cases there was never any signs or remains of sentient life. Which still didn't do anything for the Captain's peace of mind.**

"**Approaching wormhole zone now sir," said Commander Hastings, Tactical, "We'll be in range to begin the opening in five minutes."**

"**Very good Mr. Hastings," Said O'Connell, "Mr. Webster, open a channel to the Einstein if you please."**

"**Aye aye sir," said Lieutenant-Commander Daniel Webster, "Live mike sir."**

**O'Connell nodded his thanks and said, "HMS Einstein this is Captain O'Connell, we're approaching the warp limit now. How are the readings?"**

"**They're already at the top of the scale Captain," said the academic voice at the end of the radio channel, "When we open this one up, I think it'll be to a place far across the galaxy."**

"**Well you concentrate on that. I'm just along to make sure nothing tries to kill you."**

**The voice chuckled, "I don't think there will be any danger of that Captain, but all the same I'm glad you're along for the ride."**

**The two ships began approaching what seemed like a reddish blue distortion hanging over Mars. That alone was a clear sign that this wormhole was different. Never before had a wormhole appeared so close to a planet. Well, in a few hours they'd find out exactly what this wormhole would do for the Imperium.**

**Two hours later both ships hung directly above the half open wormhole. The science team had almost completed their preparations, and now was waiting for O'Connell to give the go-ahead.**

"**Okay," he said, looking around at his bridge crews eager faces, "Just remember our job is to make sure that if there's anything on the other side of the wormhole that even looks hostile, we take it down. That said, let's try not to start an interstellar war today alright?"**

**There were chuckles as he turned to Webster, "Okay Commander tell them they can go."**

"**Aye aye sir." Webster sent the green light to the science team and then leaned back slightly in his chair.**

**For a moment nothing happened. Then a brilliant blue light lanced out from the survey ship and struck the center of the wormhole. With a terrifying suddenness the wormhole was ripped open and the two fragile human ships were sucked inside and shot down its length.**

**O'Connell had experienced wormhole travel before and so had the majority of his crew. The experience always left him with an upset stomach though, just his body's way of telling him that it didn't like what was going on.**

"**Sir, we're re-entering normal space in five seconds."**

**O'Connell nodded at his astrogater, Lieutenant Edwards, and settled into his command chair as his ship and the **_**Einstein**_** popped out of space.**

"**Scan the system, I want it checked out immediately."**

"**Aye aye sir."**

"**Tactical screen is up and running, sir we're picking up emissions from the planet in the system."**

"**What kind?"**

"**Ah…I'm not sure sir. Definitely some kind of engine but I don't know what's powering it."**

"**Okay," O'Connell took a breath, "Initiate First Contact procedures, get a probe back through the wormhole right now."**

"**Aye aye sir."**

"**Sir we've got emission signatures! There's a ship approaching the planet!"**

"**Begin hailing it, try and contact the planet as well." O'Connell waited several minutes, then:**

"**Incoming call from the other ship sir."**

"**My screen, Commander."**

"**Aye aye sir."**

**The voice which came crackling out of his mike was unlike anything he'd heard before, "Unknown vessel this is a restricted area, cut your engines immediately."**

**O'Connell leaned forward, "This is His Majesty's Ship Imperial Terra, Captain O'Connell in command. Whoever this is we'll not be cutting our engines until you've told us who you are."**

**The voice came back almost immediately, "What the hell are you talking about? Where are you from?"**

"**Ah…sir that ship's accelerating towards us. I think its weapons are coming online." Hastings bent over his console, "Affirmative, weapons are hot. Permission to bring up our missiles?"**

"**Permission granted." O'Connell turned back to the steadily approaching unknown, "Be advised unknown vessel if you continue to approach we will open fire."**

"**Imperial Terra, or whoever you are, this is Imperial Star Destroyer Devastation. Power down your weaponry now, or we'll have to conclude you're on the side of the Rebels."**

"**Rebels? What the hell are you talking about?"**

"**Power down your weapons!"**

"**Sir?" Hastings looked up, "Shall I fire?"**

"**Give them a warning shot."**

"**Aye aye sir."**

**The single missile that Imperial Terra fired was a tiny fraction of the firepower that the ship could unleash, but it had a very different effect on the command crew of the Star Destroyer.**

"**Sir they've fired something towards us, looks like some kind of projectile."**

"**Will it hit the ship?"**

"**No its going to go right past us on the port side."**

"**Very well, how much longer until we get in range?"**

"**Five minutes sir."**

**The missile detonated a half million kilometres from the Star Destroyer. Unfortunately for them, Imperial Terra was done playing nice.**

"**Commander Hastings…engage the enemy."**

"**Aye aye sir." Hastings typed in the launch sequence and watched as fifteen launchers spat fire at the other ship.**

**Three of the missiles fired were EW drones and jammers. They quickly wiped away any coherent picture the Star Destroyer had of the space around them, since the Destroyer or the Empire, had never encountered the kind of technology employed by Terrans.**

**Of the other twelve missiles, four of them were intercepted by lucky shots from the frantically firing laser guns of the Destroyer. The other eight however, came racing in…and nothing stopped them until they rammed right into the hull.**

**The Destroyer's shield held for a few seconds and then dissolved as a **_**second**_** flight of missiles slammed into it. The massive ship broke apart in a roiling fireball of destruction which could be seen from the planets surface as the nuclear fire billowed out of the fragments of hull which had once been the most powerful vessels in the galaxy.**

**The bridge on Imperial Terra was deathly silent as they observed what had just happened. No ship had ever lost a fight so quickly, the point defence and counter missiles prevented those quick and easy deaths. But whatever this ship had used for defence had clearly not been designed towards fending off missiles.**

"**Well," said O'Connell, breaking the silence, "That was certainly…unexpected."**

"**Sir, the **_**Einstein**_** is on the horn. They want to know what you intend to do now." said Hastings.**

"**We'll move in closer to the planet and see if we can establish contact with whoever is on the planet. Now that they've lost one of their ships to their foolishness, we'll see if they're inclined to be reasonable."**

"**And if they're not sir?" asked Hastings.**

"**Then we'll just have to convince them that it would be a serious mistake for them to continue to think that way." replied O'Connell grimly. **


	2. Chapter 2Negotiations

The atmosphere aboard Imperial Terra was tense as they approached the as yet unnamed planet which loomed in their displays. Not two hours ago the only ship in the system had tried to attack them for being 'Rebels' and they had destroyed the enemy ship with all hands.

Captain James O'Connell sat in his chair, watching the planet grow in the screen in front of him and thought hard and fast. The ship that had attacked him had clearly been from a government that had extended its control far beyond this one single system. With that in mind, O'Connell could have landed his own government in the biggest shitpot ever seen by the human race.

Still, he had warned the other ship to stand off, and the other captain had seemed hell bent on boarding his ship. Until First Contact had been successfully initiated no one from the other side could be permitted onboard, in case of contamination.

He grimaced as his thoughts began to circle each other and shook himself. He turned in his seat and asked, "Commander Webster. Any communication yet from the planet?"

"Not yet sir, though truth be told I have no idea what the range of their comms gear is. They might…" he trailed off as a light began flashing on his console, "That might be them now sir."

He swivelled back around and hit the acceptance key on his screen. The static of a bad link washed through the bridge along with a voice which rasped out, "Who the hell is this, and what did you think you were doing blowing up a Star Destroyer?"

O'Connell waved for Webster to shift the mike control up tp the captain's station and then said, "As I explained to whoever was captaining that vessel before he tried to board me, this is His Imperial Majesty's Ship Imperial Terra, Captain O'Connell in command. I am initiating First Contact procedure and I need to establish contact with whoever is in charge over there, before reporting back to my government."

"Imperial…wait, what?" the voice on the other end seemed extremely confused, "Where the hell are you from?"

"As you can probably see, we're not from around here." said O'Connell, as patiently as he could, "I was sent here to explore the area for other intelligent life, and I'd appreciate it if you could get someone better qualified than yourself on the line before I decide I have to keep looking!!"

There was silence for a while on the other end of the line and then a different voice came on. This one was softer and more cultured than the first. The static made it hard to tell, but O'Connell was certain that this was a woman.

"My apologies for my compatriots harshness," said the collected voice on the other end, "My name is Lel Akura and I'm in charge of Security here. A landing pad has been prepared for you on the surface, if you'd care to put together a landing party."

"My thanks Ms. Akura," said O'Connell, "it's a pleasure to deal with professionals. My shuttle will be landing within the hour."

He cut the line and then turned to Commander Hastings who was standing to the side, having given Tactical over to his second. O'Connell smiled at him, "Sorry Commander but this one's mine."

"Sir, with the opening hostilities in the system don't you think it should be the exec going down, not the captain?"

"Aye I do, and normally that's exactly what would be happening. But these people don't really sound hostile, and I think the most senior of us, plus some science personnel should be conveying apologies for the loss of life, along with what we need to set up an embassy here."

Hastings sighed, "Very well sir. I don't suppose if I kept arguing I'd get anywhere would I? he asked plaintively

"Not in the slightest," said O'Connell, grinning, "Have a squad of Marines meet me in Bay One, and tell the eggheads to get a few people together as well in their own shuttle."

"Aye aye Captain." Hastings saluted and O'Connell strode off the bridge.

Fifteen minutes later, Imperial Terra and the _Einstein_ disgorged a shuttle each and they began the descent towards the planet's surface. In the scientists shuttle there were a total of six from the dozen total that made up the scientific complement of the trip. In the Terra's shuttle, there was Captain O'Connell, two junior lieutenants, and ten heavily armed Marines.

The shuttles dropped through the atmosphere like rocks, the way these assault variants had been designed to do. Both of them were heavily armoured and armed, each would be able to lay waste to entire cities if left unchecked. O'Connell would generally have taken a less combat oriented version if he hadn't had to fight his way into the system. From the start, he intended to shock and awe the locals.

After the short drop through the atmosphere the pilot braked and turned sharply towards the sizable city that loomed up below them. The city was strikingly different from those O'Connell had seen before, most Terran cities were larger and shorter than this one. Terran cities were also, despite city officials best efforts, always polluted to one extent or another.

O'Connell pondered this as the landing platform that they had been directed to came into sight, along with a small delegation which was waiting just off to the side.

"Scan for weapons, make sure you also scan the range that that ship had when we scanned it."

"Yes sir," said the pilot, quickly bending over her instruments, "I'm reading a few low power sources amongst the party, I'd say small arms. A few larger traces back in the buildings, that may be vehicles of some kind or weapons."

"Thank you Warrant," said O'Connell. The pilot nodded at him and he continued, "Land on the platform, make sure the whiz kids go down _behind_ us, I don't want any of them getting hit if this turns ugly."

The pilot nodded again and guided them in.

"So who do you think they are?" asked Dorn Rholar, his bulbous eyes blinking quickly. Rholar was the head of Planet Security and had been for ten years.

"If I knew that I wouldn't be sweating so badly right now." replied his friend Kaul Bain, the Planetary Governor. Despite having been given his place by the Imperials, he had managed to befriend the population by using a velvet glove rather than an iron fist to rule.

The Imperial Star Destroyer _Devastation_ had been here to relieve both him and Rholar of their places due to whispered rumours that they were involved with the Rebels in some way. Imperial Center had ignored the rumours for some time, but apparently the Empire had finally decided that there must be some truth to them and had come a-hunting. The trouble was, there actually was truth there.

Bain and Rholar had both joined the Rebellion five years ago, after witnessing a massacre on this world, Chandrila. They had been surprised to discover that Mon Mothma, their former Senator, was one of the leaders of the Rebellion.

In the years since the Rebel cells on the planet had grown by leaps and bounds, secure in the knowledge that the Security Head and the Governor were on their side. Then the Star Destroyer had shown up, demanding that Bain report to it with all of his Cabinet members, and closest Security officers.

They had been about to board shuttles to the _Devastation_ when this new ship had shot out of some spatial disturbance and had blown the Star Destroyer to pieces. From the message of the belligerent captain, Bain had determined that, however crazy, they were clearly not from the Empire or the Old Republic.

"We'll just have to see won't we?" he asked Rholar as the two shuttles touched down. As he and his delegation began walking towards them, he noticed that the bulbous objects on the top had not stopped rotating…except for two which were fixed firmly on the group of people walking towards it.

I hope this goes well, he thought, or its going to be messy.

"Okay, when we get out there I don't want anyone doing anything without my say-so, got it?" said O'Connell, tightening his helmet in place and checking his sidearm, "We've already killed quite a lot of people today, lets not add any more to the list eh?"

"No worries Sir," responded the sergeant in charge of the Marine detachment, "None of those poor bastards looks like they have a single hostile intent amongst the bunch of them."

"Not that that means anything," muttered the corporal behind him, "I've seen plenty of suicide bombers who look like they don't have a care in the world until, boom."

O'Connell nodded, "Alright then, let's go meet these people." he leaned over and pressed the release button that had locked the hatch shut.

It popped open with a hiss of equalizing pressure and the two Marines in front stepped out onto the landing pad, towering over the locals in their combat armour.

The rest of the Terran party stepped out, along with the scientists who clustered behind them in much smaller and sleeker suits. O'Connell looked around, using his helmet's sensors to insure, once again, that nothing dangerous was in the welcoming group.

That same group had halted at the sight of the armoured figures emerging from the shuttle, and were clearly uncertain as to how to proceed. O'Connell looked at them, and their obvious unease over the armour and weapons, and then called one of the scientists over the suits radio, "Hey, Bob, can we breathe the air?"

Robert Jones, PhD in just about everything that O'Connell had ever come across, responded, "its slightly higher in oxygen content than Terra James, but its breathable."

"Right." O'Connell touched the release clasps on both sides of the helmet and then took it off, revealing his human face to the locals.

"That seems to have relaxed them a wee bit," he said wryly as two of the aliens stepped forward and came towards them. The local species seemed completely human, but they were just a little too elegant and elf-like to be actual Terrans.

He raised his hand in a wave and said to the approaching group, "Greetings from The Grand Imperium of Systems. I am Captain James O'Connell, commander of His Majesty's Ship_ Imperial Terra_. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

The male across from him replied, "I am Kaul Bane, Planetary Governor of Chandrila. Where are you from?"

"We're from Terra, or Earth as you may know it. I don't know how far we've come exactly, but I must say we never expected to encounter any advanced civilizations."

Kaul twitched in surprise, "You mean you've never encountered any other species before? You must be a very great distance away indeed, this area of the galaxy has been completely explored, all planets have been found."

"Just how big is your government here?" asked O'Connell, worry tingeing his tone, "We've colonized a few planets, found some interesting bones, but this is the first time we've ever met another race."

"Our…our government is…in question at the moment. We're embroiled in a civil war that is being fought between the Galactic Empire and the Rebellion."

"Oh shit," muttered O'Connell, "That ship that I destroyed…would that have been representing the 'Galactic Empire'?"

"Yes it was, and very grateful we are too, excepting the fact that there will probably be a reprisal against your world for it."

"I'd like to see them try," said O'Connell, "We may not have a big navy, but after that little incident, I think its pretty clear that we do have better weapons. Anyway," he said, "I need to set up an embassy here, for when the rest of the task force gets here."

"More of you are coming here?" asked Bane, an edge of worry creeping into his tone, "Are you sure you want to be doing that?"

"Why not?" asked O'Connell, ironically, "I've already blown up one of their ships. If they really don't want to make up after that, I'm not going to toss away the only allies I have in this sector of space."

He waved his hand as Bane began to respond, "Doesn't really matter. We would've had to choose sides eventually anyway, and I like you more than that stuck up prick on the _Devastation_."

"So, if you'll let me leave my lieutenant here with a few soldiers and the whiz kids, I'll get back to my ship and see where I can dig up a few diplomats."

"Certainly, we have quarters prepared for your party, if you'd like them to stay within the city."

"Sure, I'll talk to you once I'm back onboard."


	3. Chapter 3 Counter Attack

Captain Edgars, Imperial Star Destroyer _Retribution_, paced up and down along the command deck. He and his ship had been attached to a small fleet that had been hunting down Rebel bases along the Outer Rim, and not having much success. Lord Vader himself had put together the fleet, under the command of Admiral Jenkins, a man rumoured to be a shoe in for the next Grand Admiral.

All that said, they should have been recalled from their tasking some time ago, especially with the discovery of the actual Rebel headquarters on Yavin 4. But Vader had been ordered by the Emperor to use the Death Star instead and so he had left behind all of the ships he could have taken and embarked with the battle station alone.

By Edgars' reckoning the battle should have been over four days ago, but no word had yet been sent from either Grand Moff Tarkin or Lord Vader. That was worrying, especially with the continued duty of Admiral Jenkins' fleet out in the Rim. If the Rebels had lost, then there would be no further need of them out here, which must mean that the Rebels had actually managed to destroy the Death Star. Which was ridiculous……but that didn't stop Edgars from worrying about it.

His pacing came to an end as one of the bridge officers waved for his attention by the communications section. He strode over to the man in question and said, "What is it Lieutenant?"

"Sir, Admiral Jenkins is requesting a comm conference with the senior captains. He pinged our section to give you a few minutes warning."

"Thank you Lieutenant, put it through in my conference room will you?"

"Yes Sir." The under officer saluted and turned back to his station, quickly pressing a few buttons which would limit the incoming message from the Admiral solely to the conference room.

Edgars stepped into the room and settled into the chair facing the monitor just as it popped up with the displays from several other ships. He nodded to his fellow captains, and then straitened as Admiral Jenkins came onto the screen looking worried, which only served to worry Edgars even more.

"As you gentlemen may or may not have known I dispatched _Devastation_ to do a sweep of several nearby planets and pick up a list of suspected persons from them. Their last report put them in the Chandrila System where they were preparing to pick up several dozen Rebel sympatheizers. No further reports have come from them."

"You suspect a Rebel strike Sir?" asked the captain of _Sentinel_, "Chandrila is the home system of several highly placed Rebel leaders."

"While that would be a nice thing to think Captain, no I do not believe it was a Rebel attack. Chandrila's proximity to the Unknown Regions make an incursion by a new species a possibility."

Jenkins swept his eyes over the assembled group, "We will proceed to the Chandrila System and insure that if there is a hostile force in-system, it is dealt with swiftly and mercilessly. Am I clear?"

A chorus of "yes Sir's" answered him and he nodded, "Prepare for hyper jump in thirty minutes gentlemen." then his face vanished from the screen.

"Well Captain O'Connell, you did well given the circumstances." The commodore that had arrived with the additional ships had just concluded the after action report with O'Connell.

"Thank you Sir." O'Connell glanced out at the planet hanging in his view screen, "How are the negotiations going by the way Sir?"

"Surprisingly well, considering how first contact went," said the commodore, "We've been told that some of the Rebel leadership is coming over this way to negotiate with us."

"Well that's good sir."

"Yes it is. But they've also told me that there was an Imperial Fleet operating in the area, I don't have an exact size but it's pretty large. It's also commanded by one of their most brilliant admirals, and more than likely he's going to wonder why his ship hasn't returned."

O'Connell nodded and the commodore continued, "That said if he does decide to come here, based on your report, we should be able to just stand off and pound him with missiles."

The commodore had arrived with ten additional warships. Four of them were destroyers, four more were the same class as _Imperial Terra_, and two of them were the brand new dreadnoughts that had been laid down a year ago. The new class was extremely missile heavy, and could fight for hours without reloading its missile complement. That was going to come in handy if these Imperials did attack.

"Well, I'll let you get back to your duties Captain."

"Yes Sir." O'Connell leaned over and hit the disconnect. Then he settled back into his chair to think. The locals had estimated that the Imperial Fleet had double or even close to triple the strength that the Terrans had with them. That was a worrying balance, but more worrying was that they really had no information on the enemy weapon systems. While O'Connell hoped that the brief engagement in this system meant that the enemy truly had to get down to knife fighting range before they could open fire.

He tipped his chair back and looked up at the small screen showing the entire system in good detail. Upon the arrival of the reinforcing ships, the Terrans had deployed clusters of drones which would give a near real time picture of the system. It was very recent technology and had not yet been tested in combat (mostly because Terrans had never had anyone to fight against).

The drones would definitely be an advantage…if they worked, which they seemed to be doing so far. O'Connell looked over where the list of ships in system were grouped and frowned at a cluster of icons which hovered directly above the planet. The Diplomatic Corps had arrived, along with every conceivable scientific team to begin experiments and research on this new discovery.

What had him worried however, was just how exposed their position truly was here. There were perhaps fifteen to twenty civilian Terran ships, and only eleven warships to protect them. Commodore Jackson had promised that more ships were en route, they first had to retrace their steps through the other various wormholes which connected Man's far flung empire.

O'Connell snapped his chair forward as alarms suddenly began to whoop throughout the ship. He spun his chair to face the Tactical station and barked, "Report!"

"Sir we've got unknown vessels in system. Tracking currently estimates fifteen to twenty capital ships, plus at least that in destroyer sized vessels or smaller. Their speed will have them making a zero-zero rendezvous with the planet in two hours."

"Damn. Get Commodore Jackson on the horn."

"Aye Aye Sir."

O'Connell swung back to his screen as the Commodore's face appeared on it, "Sir, we need to move immediately to intercept these ships short of the planet. My Tactical section reports that they will reach the planet in just under two hours."

"That fast? Damn. Very well then Captain, I'm putting you in command of Task Force One. Two destroyers; the _Vengeance _and _Golden Warrior_; plus a pair of cruisers; the _Indefatigable_ and the _Indomitable_." Take your command and interpose yourself between the hostiles and attempt to hold them off. Try talking to them before you open fire."

"While you're doing that, I'll take my units around the outer edge and cut them off inside the gravity well. Once they're trapped inside we'll see if they feel like being reasonable."

"Yes Sir, I'll see to it." O'Connell punched a few buttons and called up the faces of the captains of the named vessels, "Gentlemen you are now a part of Task Force One. Our duty is to insure the possible hostiles do not make planet fall. Questions?"

He looked at their faces and saw the same determination to stop whoever the hell these people were. "Right then, let's get to it."

"Admiral Jenkins, There are over thirty unknown starships in the system!" said the scanner tech, surprise and tension in his voice.

"Maker, who are these people?" Jenkins half-whispered. He cleared his throat and then said more loudly, "Get into formation Gamma helmsman. Communications, try and contact these…people and see what it is they're doing here."

His fleet of forty ships dropped into a triple wedge formation with the lighter units arrayed along the outside to provide cover with their hulls to incoming laser fire.

"Sir?" said the comms tech, "I've contacted them. There's a Captain O'Connell on the line."

"Very well, throw it up to my view screen Commander."

Jenkins strode over to where a view screen was showing the blank screen with the Imperial emblem on it. So, these people don't have holograms, or else they're afraid someone will recognize their face, interesting.

"Greetings Captain O'Connell. My name is Admiral Jenkins. May I ask what your business with the Empire?"

"We have no business with the Empire Admiral came the thickly accented voice from the other end, "We do happen to have business with yon planet, so if yea'll be leaving us to it, we'll get on with it."

"I'm afraid you're operating under a misapprehension Captain," replied Jenkins, "This planet is a part of the Empire, just as it was part of the Old Republic. Where do you hail from Captain?"

"We're representatives of the Grand Imperium of Systems, Admiral. His Majesty Emperor Brendan II sent us to make contact with other interstellar polities. We've made contact with representatives from Chandrila, and they express no wish to include you in the negotiations they're currently conducting with us. If you'll be so good to withdraw your ships, these negotiations can proceed and cement relations between our two nations."

"I'm afraid I'll have to insist on sitting in on the negotiations Captain. Chandrila is currently home to a growing insurgency which we are attempting to combat. I would have to assure myself of every negotiators reliability before allowing them to proceed."

"Well Admiral, we had a chance to examine the historical records of this area of the galaxy, and I must say that your 'insurgents'," the word was heavy with scorn, "Seem to be much more willing to fight by the rules of war than your kind are. Stand your ships off from this planet or I will open fire."

Jenkins' face coloured at the contempt from the unseen man on the other end of the circuit, "Who the hell do you think you are, coming in here prattling about 'rules' and 'regulations' for warfare?"

"I think I'm the only unbiased observer you're damn well likely to find until this war ends Admiral. Your so called 'Empire' has destroyed any stability that this region of space and has consigned it to endless warfare between its people. You will never be able to negotiate with us, because to my government yours is not a legitimate one. My warning still stands Admiral. Come another million kilometres closer, and you'll find out just how much we dislike people who massacre the helpless."

"How dare you impugn the name of the Empire you barbarian! His hand reaches far, farther than you can imagine. Stand clear of Chandrila, or _I_ will fire on you!"

"Nothin' doing boyo. You just come ahead and meet us." the connection terminated before Jenkins could utter his angry retort, and he whirled around to his command deck,

"Message all ships. We will proceed to engage the enemy and clear him from the system. Detail a picket ship to report back to Imperial Center to inform the Emperor of this attack."

"Yes sir."

The Imperial Fleet swept onwards towards the waiting ships of the Imperium. Neither of them had faced each other, besides the First Contact conflict. The next hour or so would determine who would be the masters of this sector of space.


	4. Chapter 4 Counter Attack

Just wanted to thank everyone who was leaving reviews. Its nice to know this is appreciated.

On with the story…

The Imperial Fleet, never yet defeated in a space engagement, swept towards the single squadron of Terran ships which stood between them and the planet they sought to destroy.

The second squadron of Terrans had already made their way behind the Imperials using their cloaking technology, another recent breakthrough, and were fast overhauling the Imperials from behind. However they wouldn't make it for another twenty minutes, so for that time Captain O'Connell would stand alone with his fellow captains.

The Captain in question had already given his orders and now sat in his seat watching his command carry them out. The two destroyers moved out to the flanks while the trio of cruisers formed a cluster in the center.

While in the Chandrila system he had asked the locals exactly what the Imperials used for weapons on their Star Destroyers, and so knew that they could only engage with lasers. Long ranged lasers, but still only lasers. He on the other hand could begin firing almost five minutes before they could, and thus could savage them horribly before closing the range.

Captain Edgars stood on his command deck, hands folded behind him, and watched as the fleet rushed down upon the pitiful handful of warships that this Grand Imperium had sent out here. Beyond them stood almost thirty ships which would hold untold marvels, and they were utterly defenceless.

He smiled at the thought and then turned to his Tactical section, "As soon as we enter range, open fire."

"Yes sir." replied the commander in charge of the section

Edgars turned back to the forward view and felt a feeling of great satisfaction as the mighty force of destruction that he was part of hurtled towards the enemy. Soon they'd know what it meant to challenge the Empire.

"Sir the enemy has entered missile range."

"Have they indeed," said O'Connell with a smile, "Its only right to welcome them in then Commander. Open fire."

"Aye Aye Sir."

The ships of the Imperium had been designed around the simple concept that if they ever encountered anything hostile they would want to maintain their distance from it, while continuing to pound it to pieces. That said, their missiles were long ranged and extremely powerful.

The ships of the Empire however, had simply refined the general concept of close up combat with lasers and shields. They had some rudimentary missile defence systems, but they were designed to deal with such things as concussion missiles or proton torpedoes. The Imperium's missiles were a very different design indeed.

When Captain O'Connell gave the order to fire, the _Terra_ alone belched twenty missiles. The rest of the squadron put forth sixty five, and they all went hurtling towards the approaching enemy. Then a second went out ten seconds later. Then a _third_.

"Sir, the enemy is firing at us! Some kind of projectile but we can't trace it properly!"

Jenkins cursed as the things the tiny force had fired at him raced towards his command. "Are they missiles?" he asked

"Not sure sir, they don't have any of the propulsion we can generally lock onto. Whatever they are they'll reach us in a minute and a half."

Jenkins cursed again, "Right, shields up maximum power. Whatever they are I don't want them getting through."

He looked out at the racing weapons coming towards him. Just three more minutes, he thought to himself, just three more minutes and then I can start shooting.

The missiles came racing in, all eighty five of them. There were no decoys or jammers or any of those defences to stop them. So they raced on, and finally the lasers of the starships they had come to kill began to stab out at them, killing them off in ones and twos. Almost half of them were destroyed because of the massed fire of the Imperial Fleet. But that left forty three missiles, and they had passed all of the defences, save the shields, and they came howling in.

The shields of the Imperial Fleet were the best to be had. They had been redesigned from the ones that had been used during the Clone Wars, and they were immensely strong. It would take dozens of hits from lasers to get through them. But the missiles had other ways of defeating the shields besides ramming into them, and so each one of these carried a proximity fuse which detonated when they got within a few hundred kilometres.

The effect on the Imperial Fleet was hideous. These ships had never been designed to withstand the kind of fury which could be unleashed by the missiles of the Grand Imperium. Ships after ship was rocked by the explosions and their shields collapsed as the overworked machines gave up the struggle.

Other ships themselves exploded as the shield generators overloaded and their safety overrides failed as well. Admiral Jenkins looked around in horror as a quarter of his light vessels were wiped from the universe, either adrift with no engines or with no shields and thus no way to defend themselves.

And then the second wave of missiles arrived, then the third, then the _fourth_.

Take that you bastards, thought O'Connell, as the Imperial Fleet was swallowed in the explosions. That for every massacre you've committed, every planet you've bombarded.

"Sir, their capital ships have entered range. Preparing defences.

The Chandrilans had been kind enough to install crude shield generators on all of the Terran ships which had come to their system. Now O'Connell was damn glad they had, as beams of death and destruction stabbed out from the surviving Imperial vessels towards his fragile command.

He winced as the destroyer _Golden Warrior_ was gutted by one of the beams. Lifeboats began to fire from her bulk for all of one minute before another quartet of beams stabbed into her and she went up with a fireball of destruction.

_Vengeance_ was hit by three beams but the shield they had cobbled together managed to hold, and she continued to throw her missiles into the teeth of the approaching Imperial Fleet.

_Terra _and _Indefatigable_ went side by side into the furnace ahead of them, belching missiles and shrugging aside the fury of the Imperials. _Indomitable_ was on their flank, taking hit after hit, but still charging forward into the blizzard of laser fire.

O'Connell turned to his communications screen as the ping on it drew his attention.The face of Commodore Jackson looked out from the tiny webcam-like screen, and O'Connell nodded to him, "What can I do for you Commodore?"

"My squadron is going to be entering firing range in two minutes Captain, fall back towards the planet."

"Sir, their weapons can already reach the planet from where they are. If I retreat they'll turn their beams on Chandrila. I can't let that happen."

Jackson was silent for a moment, as _Imperial Terra_ shook from several hits to her forward section. O'Connell grimaced as damage tones shrilly announced that one of the beams had gotten through.

"Very well O'Connell," said Jackson, "I'll try to get there as fast as I can."

"Aye aye sir," replied O'Connell, "And we'll make sure the planet doesn't get roasted while you're away."

The Imperial Fleet had lost perhaps half their strength to the Terran defenders. Most of their light units trailed behind them in wreckage and several Star Destroyers had also been left behind as their propulsion failed.

However they still had six Star Destroyers along with a dozen cruisers, and they had reached the range of the few defenders left. Beams of fire stabbed out at the four damaged ships of the Gran Imperium, and slashed at their defences until they were ribbons.

The four defenders were now within easy firing range of the Imperial Fleet. But at the same time, the Imperials now found out just why the Terrans had closed to that range.

Shirt ranged missiles, carrying massive nuclear warheads were fired at the Imperial ships, and hit almost instantly. Nuclear fire bloomed in the Imperial formation and took several Destroyers with it. The Imperials however took _Vengeance_ and _Indomitable_ with them in fiery balls of destruction.

O'Connell's face tightened in pain as the two ships vanished forever, taking every man and woman who had served on them with them. He promised the souls of his dead that he'd finish these bastards to the last ship, whatever it took.

"Rapid rate of fire," he ordered in a voice of agate, "Kill every last one of them."

Admiral Jenkins was dead, taken out by a trio of those close range missiles that the enemy ships had begun firing. Command had devolved on to Captain Edgars and as he looked out at the raging battle around him he realized that they had lost. The Imperial Navy had been defeated by a handful of these mysterious bastards. They-

"Sir, five more drive signatures behind us! There's more of them!"

Edgars cursed foully as he saw the new point sources. That finishes it then, he thought, we need to get out of here while we still have hyperspace ability.

"Withdraw," he said, the words hurting as he spoke them, "Fall back and hyper out. Rendezvous at the coordinates I'm sending now."

He punched in a single stream of numerals and then stood watching as the remains of what had been a grand and fearsome naval force withdrew, broken and shocked.

"Sir, they're falling back!" yelled Commander Hastings, "Commodore Jackson is turning to pursue."

"Halt us here, Commander. We've done our job."

O'Connell looked at the screen where a duo of blips, wreathed in the amber colours of serious combat damage, blinked a defiant green. His face still wore a hard mask as he silently grieved for his dead, over a thousand casualties and still counting.

"Start searching the wrecks for survivors, let's get as many of them home as we can."

"Aye Aye Sir."


	5. Chapter 5 History of the Imperium

First I'd like to thank everyone who posted reviews of this story. It's always nice to know your work is appreciated.

I'd also like to apologize for the massive delay between this chapter and the others. A combination of Christmas and the fact that my computer got smashed over the holidays meant I've had to wait until now to begin writing again.

While I was unable to write I was still receiving emails and so I've decided that this chapter will go over how Earth progressed from a divided planet to a central Imperial state…

Our story picks up in 2062 AD, after the ending of one of the greatest wars that the world had seen. Over a half billion people had perished, leaving many countries barren of population and resources.

New powers had emerged from this devastation, baptized in the fires of war, to begin asserting themselves in the new world. New powers such as the American Federation which controlled both North and South America, or the Asian Collective which controlled the Far East countries of China, Korea, Japan, India, and the rest.

For the Asian Collective the past war had cost them grievously and had shattered the late Chinese' economy. India now led them forward towards a position of world dominance.

In Africa, no new powers had emerged due to the lack of stability and the continued interference of great powers from both East and West.

The Middle East at this point had been left to its own devices as in 2039 a grid of satellites had been installed which provided unlimited solar energy to Earth. When the demand began to outpace the amount of energy in store, a new discovery was made in 2047 which enabled large fusion plants to be built which powered entire cities.

In the West, the EU had solidified into a centralized Parliamentary system under the leadership of England and Germany, know called the Kingdom of Europe.

In the American Federation the former U.S. had lost much of its resources and power in the past war, which meant that power had come to rest squarely in the hands of the more tolerant northern area, former Canada.

From 2062 AD to 2080 AD the world put away the weapons of war in favour of rebuilding their shattered countries. Instead of turning on each other once again in bids for world domination, the various power blocs now looked out at the stars as a means of gathering resources and pushing human civilization into the stars.

In 2085 AD the American Federation and the Asian Collective both completed work on their respective space ships and sent them out on a joint expedition to explore the inner area of the solar system, mostly around Mars and the asteroid belt.

From 2085 to 2102 AD space exploration was pushed aggressively as countries poured more and more funding into the construction of more ships, habitats and outright colonies on several planets and dozens of moons.

In 2105 AD, everything changed.

It was in this year that the first wormhole appeared just beyond the Moon, hanging in space between Earth and Mars.

There was widespread fear that this gate had been formed for the purpose of the invasion of Earth by alien life forms, and the governments of Earth mobilized the now moderately affluent space assets they had to combat this possible threat.

A squadron of crude destroyers and frigates was put together and sent through the wormhole, along with two science vessels loaded down with the best and brightest of Earth's minds.

What they found on the other side was not a hostile alien force about to attack, but instead a binary system with four habitable planets. Three of these were as lush as Earth itself, although one had such a gradual tilt that its seasons were like one of Earth's years.

When the task force returned to Earth each government laid claim to one of the planets and began constructing the first true colony ships to embark their people from Earth.

In 2110 AD the American Federation completed their vessel and assembled the one hundred thousand handpicked colonists for departure. The Europeans and the Asians were not far behind them, and by 2112 three of the four worlds had been colonized and the colonies were growing rapidly.

Through research conducted upon the first wormhole scientists were able to find two other wormholes which had appeared in the system before, but had never fully opened. Using recently acquired equipment they were able to move them to where the first one was and then open them there. These also led to new habitable worlds, though not as numerous as the first one.

At this point Earth had begun to experience a Second Renaissance with the sudden explosion of scientific most important discovery made then was in 2119, Dr. Angela Poplawski invented the Cryostasis process which enabled 'sleeper' ships to be sent out to nearby habitable worlds and still have the original group of colonists rather than their children or grandchildren.

In 2125 Earth had spread its children to fifteen new worlds, and had plans in the works to add a further five to that list in the next two years. Then, things took a turn for the worse.

The African and Middle Eastern populations had not been happy with the success of the West or East as it usually meant that more resources were being taken from them. However, they had also been passed over for the most part for a chance at leaving to go to a new world. This was the final straw.

2126 saw the beginning of a massive upsurge in violence and destruction directed towards the American Federation, Kingdom of Europe, and Asian Collective. Thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands maimed in a three year long spurt of violent attacks.

These attacks culminated in the Beijing and Washington Bombs where MidEast and African extremists smuggled nuclear weapons into the cities and detonated them. These two events mobilized the world against the terror movements as it had never been before.

A new chapter in human history began the day after the Washington Bomb exploded.

Up until this point the governments had taken a preventative stance, rather than taking action against the terrorists themselves, or simply solving the problem by allowing Africans and Arabs to get onto the colony ships.

After the Washington Bomb went off, a faction in the American Federation found themselves catapulted forward into the seat of power virtually overnight.

They were the Terran National Party (TNP), and they favoured a strong, centralized government which should control the human race as it expanded off of Earth. Their leader was a man by the name of Allen Blackwood. After the Washington Bomb went off, Allen was elected to the Presidency by popular acclaim for his strong position on the current global situation. His answer: The only way to stop the violence against my country is to insure that there is only one country in the world.

From 2129 to 2140 he instituted a massive military buildup, concentrating mostly on constructing a modern and efficient fleet with which to control the high orbitals of a planet. He also built a terrifyingly efficient Army, which began its training by attacking the African and Middle East bases of the terrorist groups which confronted his country.

Uncaring for international criticism, Blackwood drove his own campaign of terror fast and brutal. Within a year and a half he had expunged the last of the formal terrorist groups, and had also taken over large swaths of land as protectorates.

The Europeans had allied themselves with the Federation in its campaign, and now began a gradual, virtually unseen integration into the federation themselves. By 2150 Europe had effectively been added to Blackwood's bag, and now only the Asian Collective stood in his way from achieving his goal.

The Collective was aware of this and began constructing their own fleet to counter the one Blackwood had commissioned. But it was too little, too late. In 2152 the Federation of Man, as it had been renamed, declared war on the Asian Collective. The war lasted for less than week, mostly due to the fact that the Federal Navy crushed their enemies and then threatened the Collective with kinetic strikes unless they surrendered.

In the space of twenty three years, Allen Blackwood had united the peoples of Earth, a previously unthought-of accomplishment. Using his new found power he changed the system under which he governed to that of an Imperium, and crowned himself Emperor.

The colony worlds, without a navy of their own, quickly surrendered to the Imperial Fleet, which firmly cemented power in the hands of Allen the Great. He lived for another four decades and when he finally died at the age of one hundred and three all twenty one inhabited worlds were shrouded in mourning. Despite the violence with which he had united the human race, Allen was best remembered for the forty years afterwards when he drove forward all manner of social, political and economic reforms which greatly increased the standards of living all over the Imperium.

The next five Emperors's, while not quite as grand as Allen, were extremely competent all the same. Under their rule, the Imperium was expanded to fifty star systems, and a fourth wormhole was discovered and opened. The Grand Imperium of Systems, as it was now called, expanded in every kind of field, but especially in the life sciences and in starship design.

In 2650, a new discovery was made by Dr. Andrew Richter and Dr. Jacqueline Hackett. These two doctors managed to finally perfect a series of treatments which would lengthen a human life span to a little over two centuries. At first the treatments were given purely to the military and government services. However by 2694, the treatments had become available to the general population, provided they were below the age of thirty.

The year in which my story began is 3010 AD. The reigning Emperor is Emperor Allen IV, Protector of Humanity. The Imperium now holds seventy inhabited systems, a little over one hundred inhabited worlds.

The Imperial Fleet is steadily growing; they currently have a little over two hundred capital ships (Each of these ships masses a little over seven million tons). They have begun construction of a new design of ship, a superdreadnought, which will mass over eight million tons.

Ship design is still evolving at this point, but all ships regardless of size have certain basic similarities:

All vessels have a hammerhead front to enable them to use both the wormholes and warp space, which takes weeks to use but enables ships to travel from planet to planet instead of being limited solely to the wormholes.

All military ships are equipped with missiles as their main armament but also feature energy weapons as a final means of attack should any potential enemy get in close.

Finally, all ships, when traveling in a system, use fusion drive to move around. Using this system means that light shielding is built around the ship to shield it against radiation, acceleration, and most importantly enemy fire.

Thus ends my little history lesson, if this still leaves a few things out that you refuse to leave up to your imagination please don't hesitate to leave a review stating that and I'll do my best to fill you in.

Next chapter I will resume where I left off…with a possible introduction of some characters everyone knows.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks once again to everyone who left reviews, I hope the history was of some help to everybody.**

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**Light centuries away from where the Terran Imperium had first come into contact with this strange new universe lay a system which was home to a single planet. That planet was a gargantuan gas giant and it spun round the star at the system's center, forever locked in its grasp.**

**Nearby this floating sphere of gas lay the charred remains of a massive space station, its pieces in a degrading orbit which would eventually lead them into the gas giant.**

**Orbiting this gas giant was a lush and fertile moon upon which was built massive structures by a long forgotten race which had since crumbled into ruin. However, inside these structures new residents had made them into a modern base.**

**A cluster of four massive ziggurats marked the main headquarters and hanger bay, it was there that a frantic scene of activity was seen as ship after ship landed, loaded passengers or equipment and then shot off into the atmosphere to rendezvous with the large fleet that was stationed high above.**

**Inside the headquarters building a small room had been set aside for a quick emergency meeting which had been called because of a transmission received only an hour ago.**

"**What do you make of it?" asked General Carlist Rieekan**

"**Well, I do know that none of our units are in the area," said General Dodonna, "We haven't had any of our units in the area for well over a month."**

"**Well, **_**something**_** blew the hell out of an Imperial Border Fleet, that's for sure," muttered Rieekan, beginning to pace up and down as the message from Governor Bain replayed itself, "From what he's saying it sounds like something out of fantasy books!"**

"**That it does, but you know Kaul as well as I do, Carlist," said Dodonna, "He's not a man to jump to conclusions, especially about this kind of stuff."**

**Rieekan sighed and then flung himself into one of the chairs clustered around the holo panel, "You're right. Hell, I know that, I just don't like something like this springing up just as we're shifting locations! We can't risk sending any ships out there just yet, and from the message it sounds like whoever this new player is they're going to get involved in our war with the Empire! I'd kind of like to talk to them first before they do that, and make sure they're the kind of allies I want on my side!"**

"**Calmly Carlist, calmly." Dodonna waved his hands in front of himself as he walked over to the other general, "We may not have any ships to spare, but I'm sure we can spare a few dozen people in one ship to go check this out."**

"**Who'd you have in mind?" asked Rieekan, straightening up in the chair, "We can probably spare a few fighters for escort and one cruiser, maybe."**

"**That would probably be either too much or too little," said Dodonna, "That's too big to slip through a system undetected, and too small to do any good against a task force."**

"**No," he said, sitting down across from Rieekan, "What I had in mind was a single ship carrying no more than twenty people to Chandrila. A quick in and out, and then go to meet us on Hoth."**

"**Again, who would be going on this little jaunt?" asked Rieekan.**

"**Well, since Captain Solo returned to us I thought his ship would be a perfect fit for this kind of mission. The rest of the personnel would of course be up to you, but I'd like to suggest Princess Leia as the chief diplomat for this mission."**

"**Why the Princess?" asked Rieekan, "She's worked herself to exhaustion over the past month, why not someone who's fresh?"**

"**First, she'll have plenty of time to recover on the trip to Chandrila. Second, I've taken a look at what she's done for the Rebellion so far and quite frankly I'm impressed. Especially with the past month or so."**

"**Well, I'll not disagree with you that she's one of our better diplomats." Rieekan mused. He fell silent for a few moments and then nodded sharply, "Done. Captain Solo to deliver them there and return them. Princess Leia to lead the diplomatic team of…three excluding herself. The other eight spots I'll give to the security detachment. Plus," he looked over at Dodonna, "A three fighter escort."**

"**Carlist…"**

"**No, hear me out. The X-Wings can hyper out on their own so they can keep up with the **_**Falcon**_**. I know the whole point is to have the **_**Falcon**_** look as unthreatening as possible, but I want to make sure she's escorted there and back just in case they run into something nasty that takes them out, I'll want to know about it."**

"**Who're you putting on escort duty?" asked Dodonna**

"**Hmmm," said Rieekan, thinking hard. Then, "Commander Skywalker. He's due for an independent command, plus he's good friends with Solo and the Princess."**

**Dodonna nodded, "Alright then, let's get moving."**

**The two generals stood and walked out of the room, shutting off the message from Chandrila as they left.**

**-----------------**

**Far away from Hoth, near the center of the galaxy lay the city planet of Coruscant. Now however, this planet was known as Imperial Center, capital of the Galactic Empire, and home to the Emperor himself. Its untold billions laboured under the iron fist of his rule, and for the most part just kept their heads down and got on with their lives.**

**From this planet wide city a massive sprawling structure thrust up into the sky, dominating the skyline for dozens of kilometres in all directions. This building was the administrative hub of the New Order, and the personal residence of the Emperor and his closest allies.**

**At this moment, a close meeting was taking place between several high ranking members of the Empire…**

"**Do you believe him?" asked a man dressed in the uniform of a Sector Governor, "Do any of you believe this?"**

"**Are you saying that Captain Edgars lied to us, Governor?" asked a woman in the uniform of an Imperial Admiral, "**_**Something **_**clearly attacked and destroyed almost half of a Border Fleet. Unless you're suggesting that the blue pixies did it I think we must believe what he's telling us!!"**

"**Calmly Admiral, Calmly," said the final member in the room. He was the only one in civilian dress, yet neither his dress nor his affable expression fooled his two companions. They both knew him for the cunning, intelligent, and utterly ruthless individual that he was…which only made sense since he was head of Imperial Security.**

"**Now…let us consider this logically," continued the plain clothes man calmly, "The good Captain does lack a good reason to lie to us. It was not he who lost half the fleet but rather his commanding officer. The only reason that we have half that fleet still is because Edgars pulled out before these interlopers completed his destruction."**

"**All the same, Sir, the fact that he claims these people are not from our galaxy is ludicrous!" said the Governor carefully.**

"**And so it would be," said the ImpSec man, a slight grin on his face, "If we did not also have his sensor readings to back up his story. It checks Governor, all of the Captain's story checks."**

**The Admiral gave a sharp firm nod, "Captain Edgars did his duty to a degree that was much higher than he had need to. I'll be promoting him to Commodore within the next few months."**

"**That is entirely your affair, Admiral," said the ImpSec man, "However we must address this problem now. I'm due to go before the Emperor in two hours with my report. I'd like to have a hammered out response which we can implement immediately."**

"**We need to move fast now, and crush these people decisively, before the Rebels contact them and draw them into this war," said the Admiral, "I took a look at those sensor readings myself. Whatever they hit our ships with, they did it from beyond our range. In fact it was double our maximum range!"**

"**Wouldn't it be possible to negotiate with these 'Imperials'? Get them on our side against the Rebels?" Asked the Governor**

"**I'm afraid not," said the ImpSec man, "The admiral commanding the fleet asked them that question and they responded with this…" he pressed a button on his console and James O'Connell's hate choked voice hissed from the speaker on the desk,**

"…_**Your so called **__**'Empire' has destroyed any stability that this region of space and has consigned it to endless warfare between its people. You will never be able to negotiate with us, because to my government yours is not a legitimate one…"**_

**He flicked the speaker off and then leaned forward, "Understand this Governor. These people seem to have close to the exact same government that we do. However, the one fundamental difference between us and them is that they hold to an honour code which by our own actions we have shown to the entire universe we do not have."**

**He stood up and waved a hand at the holo chart on the wall which depicted the Sector in which Chandrila lay, "That is why they are a far, far greater threat than even the Rebellion. Because if even our own supporters realize that a government can be strong without being totalitarian, the Empire will come crashing down."**

**He turned back to the two people seated in front of them, "I've worked to damn hard to see that happen. Governor, you will see to it that you're sector's resources are entirely put towards ending this threat. Admiral," he looked over at her, "Mobilize Fourth Fleet. Take command of it and crush Chandrila. No one escapes from this one."**

**The two humans nodded, rose, and exited the room quickly. The ImpSec man leaned back in his chair smiling to himself as he surveyed the vast expanse of the Galactic Empire which he had helped forge. **

**It was an Empire that, save for the Rebellion seemed to be invincible. But soon, the Rebellion would be crushed, and then…perhaps…a new Emperor could be installed who would be slightly more balanced than the current one. Obviously not himself, but soon he would find the perfect candidate to rule it like it should have been from the beginning, fairly and justly. **

**He chuckled to himself as he stepped out of his office. The galaxy had seen too much trouble from these Jedi and Sith. The time would soon come when a normal person would rule in the Emperor's place, with the ImpSec Director at his side, ensuring the galaxy remained secure and peaceful for all time.**


	7. Chapter 7 The Imperium Responds

Far from the city planet of Coruscant, back through the wormhole, lay the home system of the Imperium, that of the Sol System. Since its final union, the industry inside the system had expanded by leaps and bounds, pushing out in all directions from Earth. At this point virtually every moon and inhabitable planet has some form of industry attached to it.

All however are dwarfed by the massive space station that orbits Mars. Over forty ships were currently under construction there, and dozens of fortresses floated around it, on constant guard against the possibility of attack. That possibility now loomed large in the minds of many in the military as they thought about the new situation that had been discovered beyond the newest wormhole.

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On Earth in the center of the renamed Imperial City, the old city of London, sat the Imperial Palace. It was the administrative center of an entire planet, while also being the home of the Imperial Family and the thousands of personnel needed to make it run.

Inside this gargantuan structure was a small room inside which sat a small, select group of people. Among them were the First Space Lord, First Lord of the Admiralty, Prime Minister, and the Emperor Allen IV.

"Well this is quite a situation isn't it?" asked the Emperor dryly.

"Well Your Majesty, I think that's one of the biggest understatements I've heard in a while," said First Space Lord David Cameron, "This Galactic Empire is perhaps the vilest institution I've ever had the misfortune of studying."

"What exactly have we learned about them?" asked Allen

"Well, they have a radically different technological base then we ourselves do, Your Majesty," said Cameron, "They employ some kind of shielding technology which is actually much more effective than this recent battle would seem to indicate."

"This is for the simple reason that although they lost quite a few of their capital ships, this was due to their insistence on charging forward and the fact that they underestimated our own capabilities. In future engagements we cannot rely on this happening again, so we must plan accordingly."

"Which means what exactly?" asked Prime Minister Joseph Fisher

"It means that we need to start expediting our construction of capital ships, and get as many as we can spare through that wormhole. Also, we'll need to tow this one over to the main Junction we've set up, unless we want to construct a new set of forts to cover this one."

"We'll begin moving it in a week's time Admiral," said the PM, "However, we also need to think about the domestic problems that may crop up. At this point we're effectively at war with the first star nation that we've ever encountered. That's a troubling precedent to start but that's not my main objection."

"Is it the Lords again?" asked the Emperor, exasperation clear in his voice.

"Yes Your Majesty it is. I still hold a majority in both Houses, but at this point, the Liberals have decided that siding with the Progressives sits better with them, since I'm pushing for war against the Empire. The Conservatives are holding with my Nationalists for right now, but their party was never really all that strongly held together and we may lose quite a few to the Opposition."

"Damn," said the First Lord, tugging on the short beard he had grown, "We need that declaration Joe. Without it we can't do anything except protect the wormhole and our own people."

"I know, I know. I'm fairly certain that I'll be able to put it through, but its going to be close."

"As long as it happens I'm happy," said Allen, "After the things these people have done to themselves and their enemies, I think I can safely say that they'll never be any friends of ours."

Murmured assent rose from all those seated in the room, and he gave a thin smile, "Good. In that case, Admiral Cameron, I want a complete task force with at least four battle squadrons included in it. Chandrila needs to know that we're firmly behind it against the Empire."

"In the meantime Joseph," he said turning to his Prime Minister, "The Chandrilans have said that an envoy from the rebel group is en route to Chandrila to begin talks with us. I'd like a team put together, make sure that they're your best, and sent out there to make sure we get an alliance with these people."

He looked around at the rest of the gathered Terrans and said, "We've got a difficult time ahead of us people, but I feel confident that in the end we will prevail. Let's get out there, and show these people why it's a poor idea to attack the Imperium."

He nodded and they rose from their chairs and departed the room. He looked back down at his desk where the view screen still held the priority message flashed from Captain O'Connell, now Commodore O'Connell, to state that he had engaged an enemy force in the Chandrila System.

Whatever Allen might have hoped to do was now forever set by the actions of this single officer. He snorted to himself, not that he would have considered allying with the Empire once he'd discovered just how badly they had violated any rights their citizens had had.

He stood and strode out of the room, thinking. From the reports that had come in from the Chandrilan government the Empire was far more vast and powerful than the Imperium. However, there was one advantage which they would never be able to beat. Which was that they didn't seem to be able to travel through wormholes, which meant that Earth and her colonies were secure against attack.

The newly promoted Commodore James O'Connell stood on his flag bridge as his squadron swept away from the wormhole back into space in Chandrila. It had been three weeks since the bloody battle that had seen him defending the system against twice his own numbers. In return for his services to the Throne, he had been promoted to command a squadron of heavy cruisers.

The Imperium had posted almost half of its Navy to this system now to insure its security against future attacks by the Empire. Squadron upon squadron of warships orbited the planet, ready at the drop of a hat to begin shooting. At the heart of the new Second Fleet lay three squadrons of dreadnoughts, surrounding the single superdreadnought, _Invictus_, which functioned as the flagship.

The Chandrilans had been more than happy to accommodate the influx of military and diplomatic shipping. With the Imperial attack on the system, it was quite clear that the Empire had decided to move against the population as a whole, instead of simply picking off the isolated Rebel cells.

"Sir? Message from the _Invictus_. Admiral Simmonds' compliments and he'd like you to dine with him at 1830 hours." said Commander Johnson, communications.

"Thank you Commander, please tell the Admiral I'd be delighted." said O'Connell.

"Yes, Sir."

O'Connell sat down in his command chair, gazing at the fleet he had come to join. Never before in the Imperium's history had this many ships been gathered together. Hopefully it would be enough.

Once again thank you for all of the reviews!!


	8. Chapter 8 The Alliance Responds

_BAAAAAAAAAAANH_

_BAAAAAAAAAAANH_

"Sir, unidentified vessels have entered the system. CIC makes it three, possibly four sources."

Commander Schultz, Captain of the destroyer HMS _Reprise_, nodded at his tactical officer, "Thank you Lieutenant. Bring the ship to General Quarters."

"Aye, Aye Sir."

A new alarm went out, this time throughout the entire ship. Crewmen rushed to their stations as the destroyer swung onto an intercept course with the new ships. The missile and energy battery crews positioned themselves inside their stations, and then the atmosphere around them was evacuated. In the event of a hit in the area the crew would be safe from the effects of escaping air.

"Lieutenant Rodriguez, I want a message to those people now."

"Aye Sir." The Lieutenant punched a few keys, "Live mike Sir."

"Unidentified star ships, this is His Majesty's Ship _Reprise_. You have entered a restricted military zone. Heave to and prepare to be boarded."

"On the chip sir."

"Send it."

"…_to be boarded_." The harsh, cold voice cut off as the message ended.

"Not very friendly are they?" asked Han wryly.

"Would you be if the first people coming into this system after they arrived had been an Imperial Fleet?" asked Leia, "Better do as they say flyboy."

"Yeah, yeah." muttered Han. He keyed his own comm and said, "_Reprise_, we will heave to immediately. Be advised we are a diplomatic mission from the Rebel Alliance, sent here to begin talks with your government."

A long minute of silence stretched out, then a curt, "_Acknowledged._" came out of the speakers.

One of the pilots that was manning the Falcon's cockpit with Han and Leia said, "Captain, they've detached a small vessel from their ship. Its headed towards us now."

"Well, I guess we should get ready to receive our guests." said Han, "Hey, you there kid?"

"_Here_," came the reply from one of the X-Wings flying alongside the _Falcon_, "What have our friends decided to do?"

"They've sent a welcoming party aboard that shuttle there. They've insisted on searching the ship before they allow us any farther in system."

"Joy." came the tired reply, "Suspicious bunch aren't they?"

"You could say that yeah," said Han, grinning.

"Sir, Captain Davis is sending back imagery on the four vessels. Looks like three of them are single man fighters or something!"

Schultz turned to face Lieutenant Hatcher at her station in Tactical, "One man fighters?" he asked.

"Yes Sir. They're too damn small to fit more than one man. How they can do that without him dying within a few hours is beyond me."

"This just gets better and better." muttered Schultz as he turned back to look at the view of the largest ship looming in the cameras of the Marine pinnance he had sent out. "Let's just hope they're actually a diplomatic team. I'd hate to kick off a war with another group from this damn galaxy."

The pinnance from the _Reprise_ was about half the size of the _Falcon_. Just big enough to cram in a platoon of Marines, their equipment, and the power for a pair of light laser turrets. The assault variant was larger due to the extra armour, weapons, and space needed to drop off vehicles as well. But for the purpose of boarding, the general use pinnance was better.

Inside the one currently headed towards the _Flacon_ were two sections of armed and armoured Marines, plus a small Naval party. The Navy party was led by a young Ensign, while the Marines were headed by Captain Davis.

It took five minutes for the pinnance to reach the _Falcon_ and begin to dock with it.

Han, Leia, two staffers, and three security beings stood by the hatch, waiting for it to open. The rest of the mission was back in the living quarters, just to make sure the boarding party didn't think they were trying to attack them by rushing them as they came aboard.

A sudden hissing of equalizing pressure sounded, and Han stiffened his spine slightly. The three security guys surreptitiously checked their blasters without taking their eyes off of the airlock which was beginning to cycle open.

"Here we go." said Sergeant Hicks. He stepped out of the pinnance into the shuttle. He was currently in full combat dress which meant being sealed inside a two meter tall piece of combat armour, loaded down with weapons, life support, and sensors. He swivelled around slowly, taking in the group carefully before calling out over the integrated comm net, "Clear. Welcoming party of seven."

Captain Davis stepped out past him. Unlike Hicks he was in a lighter vac suit which was sleeker than the Hicks' hulking set. He walked over to the assembled group, noting that only four of them were human, and said, "Good afternoon. I'm Captain Davis of the Imperial Marines. Which one of you is the Ambassador?"

"That would be me," responded the tiny woman off to his right. She was eyeing the trio of Marines who had emerged behind Hicks with an air of resignation, coupled with annoyance, "What exactly are you supposed to be doing here Captain?"

"Well Ma'am, I'm supposed to provide a security detachment aboard your ship here until you land on Chandrila. After that you'll be taken to see the Governor of the planet, and he'll take care of anything you need."

"I see," She paused for a moment then shrugged, "I suppose we'd better get a move on then. How many of your…Marines will be staying on board with you?"

"Just one section. Ten men." Davis turned back to Hicks, "Sergeant, grab your section and get them off the pinnance."

"Yessir." Hicks stood still for a moment and then six more Marines, all in the slimmer vac suits sported by the Captain, came out of the pinnance. All of them carried rifles specially modified for space combat, the rounds wouldn't penetrate the bulkheads which would keep everyone safe from explosive decompression.

"Let's go." said Hicks, waving his troops forward. The six Marines in vac suits moved forward, spreading out through the ship. The other three battle armoured Marines remained with the Sergeant and Captain in the corridor along with the Rebel welcoming party.

Captain Davis looked upwards inside his helmet, "_Reprise_, this is Bravo-Niner. We've boarded the vessel holding the ambassador. The pinnance is detaching now, I'll remain onboard with one section."

There was another slight pause as the light speed transmission went out, "_Reprise copies Bravo-Niner. We'll escort you in. Out_"

Next chapter will hopefully be soon, I've got a lot of school work slowing me down at this point, I'll try to keep up though.

As always reviews and suggestions are welcome.

Cheers,


	9. Chapter 9

Here goes Chapter Eight of my story. Just like to thank everyone who's been following me and my story, and sorry for the long delay, work and school have been crazy!

"You wanted to see me sir?" asked Captain Jacobs

"Yes," said Commodore Edgars, "Have a seat Captain."

Jacobs folded his tall spare frame into the single seat in front of Edgars' desk and focused his clear green eyes on the commodore. Jacobs had been a captain for quite some time, this was not due to any lack of ability, but rather to the fact that he was almost never around a Fleet Base long enough to be ordered back to the capital.

He had been one of the worst enemies the Alliance had ever had, one who understood quite well that atrocities would not do any good. Instead he actually sought to win the hearts and minds of those he was in charge of and had left behind a string of systems who were staunchly Imperial, rather than waffling on the issue. In short, he was just the man who was needed on this mission.

"Captain, You've been invited here so that I can explain the full extent of the situation before having a brain storming session with you and my intelligence officer."

"Sir." Jacobs leaned back slightly in his chair.

"Earlier this year, the planet Chandrila was taken by hostile forces. When the nearest Imperial Fleet was ordered into the area to respond, it was soundly thrashed by a formation that was, numerically, very inferior. While some of that can be attributed to our own overconfidence, it is also fair to attribute much of it to the radically different weapons systems which these invaders use."

"Excuse me Sir, but we're not talking about the Rebels, are we?"

"No Captain we're not. These people, and yes they are human, are not from this galaxy. Go figure. How they entered the system, we have no idea, since they seem to have no hyperspace technology at all."

"To continue with my original point however, this threat is quite serious. Should the Rebels manage to give them the needed technology to build hyper capable ships, we would have a much greater threat facing us, while the Rebels chew us to pieces on the inside."

"Sir, to clarify, these new invaders-"

"They call themselves the Terran Imperium."

"Right, so these Terrans…they have not expanded beyond Chandrila?"

"That is correct Captain."

"Okay…what resources has the Emperor given us to complete this task?"

"He has placed Admiral Naren Draykon in command of Fourth Fleet, and Fourth has been tasked with the retaking of Chandrila. He has also allocated Second Army, which is still made up mostly of clones, so they're all elite troops."

"I…hadn't realized the Emperor thought the threat these Terrans pose is that bad," said Jacobs, "What of the Rebels?"

"Lord Vader has set off with Both First and Second Fleets to locate and neutralize them. Within a few months, they should be crushed."

"Okay…" Jacobs muttered to himself for a few seconds then nodded, "Sir, we should be good to go then. What will my position be in this operation?"

"You're going to be my Flag Captain, Captain Jacobs. I've been given command of Squadron One-Two-Delta. It's a squadron of heavy frigates with a _Victory_-class Star Destroyer as the flagship. The main fleet consists of twenty more _Victory_-class Star Destroyers, and a single squadron of _Imperial_-class Star Destroyers."

Jacobs whistled, and Edgars nodded.

"That's a hell of a lot better than anything we had at our first battle with them," said Edgars, "All of our Star Destroyers were the old _Venator_-class Star Destroyers, remnants of the Clone Wars!"

"Well Sir, it'll be a pleasure serving with you." said Jacobs rising and saluting the commodore, "If you'll excuse me, I'll go and begin preparations to activate our squadron."

"Very good Captain. I shall be aboard in the next few hours. I just need to clear up some last minute details. Admiral Draykon has set our departure date for seventy two hours from now. The trip to Chandrila should take us roughly four days, and then we'll be in system."

"Sir." Jacobs clicked his heels together and then left the office.

"Well Commodore, what do you think?" asked Hatcher as he walked out of the conference room. The meeting between the Rebel Alliance and the Terran Imperium had been going on for two days now. 

"Well sir, I must say that Princess Leia is quite a…formidable negotiator," Commodore O'Connell grinned wryly, "I suppose its my fault for thinking someone that young wouldn't be quite that good. That Commander Skywalker is also someone to watch."

"Why do you say that?" asked Hatcher, nodding to the Marine that opened the door for him.

"He just seems to be…I don't know…very insightful. Like he knows what's going on behind your eyes or something. It's not very often but every now and then I get that feeling."

"Well, just don't let him worry you too much Commodore. These negotiations are going quite well, especially for people who haven't ever been in contact with each other. We've got a solid agreement taking shape. Just a few more days and we should be all finished up here."

"Good." O'Connell strode on for a few moments and then said, "By the way sir, we've begun modifying several squadrons of cruisers with the hyperspace engines that the Chandrilans have given us. We've had to disable their warp engines, but that shouldn't be a problem unless we have to retreat from this system."

"Excellent. That is excellent, it means we can actually support our new allies with ships and troops instead of just holding one planet for them."

"My thoughts exactly." O'Connell stopped by a balcony which overlooked a nearby lake. He leaned against it and Hatcher joined him, looking out over the stunning vista as the sun began to set. The newly minted commodore and the veteran diplomat gazed out at the beauty of the new found world for several minutes, silently appreciating it.

"So, has the Emperor decided on war for certain?" Hatcher glanced up as O'Connell asked his question.

"I think you can depend on that," said Hatcher, "The Progressives and Liberals are trying to stop any attempt to push a declaration through the House of Lords at the moment, but the Commons is behind His Majesty almost unanimously. The Lords are the only sticking point, which at the moment doesn't matter anyway until we finish getting those ships refitted."

O'Connell chuckled wryly, "A point. Our capital ships won't be refitted with them for some time, so our immediate effect on the political situation in this galaxy is going to be minute to say the least. However, something ahs come up in my talks with their Commander Skywalker that I find rather troubling."

"Oh?" Hatcher raised an eyebrow, "What might that be?"

"Well, Skywalker and I have been discussing the events which led up to the Empire coming into existence. During the course of this I've come across mention of the Jedi Order, some kind of warrior-monks, that essentially guided the Old Republic. The troubling part, besides a private organisation having that much power, is that they seemed to have some kind of magical abilities."

"Magic?" Hatcher smiled, "You sure you haven't been reading some of their fairytales?"

"Yes Sir. They had a whole range of abilities from telekinesis to mind reading apparently. When the Emperor took power he massacred just about all of them, except for a handful that managed to hide or join him."

"So how are they still a problem?"

"Not so much a problem as a point of interest. If there are any survivors around in strength of this order, I think it's a fair assumption that they'll start trying to interfere in the war when they see the Empire weakening." O'Connell shrugged, "I guess this is more of a heads up than a warning. From what Skywalker's been saying, they were basically wiped out completely."

"Well I think we can bless our luck on that count," said Hatcher, turning back to look out at the lake, "The last thing we need is a bunch of wizards with delusions of grandeur running around trying to make the galaxy a better place!"

"I concur Sir." Said O'Connell, "Anyway, I think I should get back to my office. There's a hell of a lot of paperwork waiting for me back there."

"Don't let me detain you," said Hatcher with another chuckle, "I've got my own bureaucratic nonsense to sort out." He waved O'Connell away with a grin, and then strolled down the hall, back towards the meeting room.

In the outer system two destroyers swept majestically towards a small asteroid field, preparing for some gunnery practice. They were sister ships, the _Resolute _and the _Defiant_, and they were members of the new _Sentinel_ class which had combined Terran shipbuilding with hyper generators provided by their new found allies.

Lieutenant Commander Thomas Barnes sat in his command chair, surveying the tiny command deck of HMS _Defiant_. Despite his destroyer's tiny size, it was one of the very few ships that were currently outfitted with the new hyper generators. Which meant that he and his crew would be heavily involved in whatever plans the Admiralty finally decided to carry on with.

"Coming up on Point Able Skipper," said Lieutenant Meares, his tactical officer.

"Very well," said Barnes, "Stand by the port broadside. Lieutenant O'Malley, keep _Resolute_ apprised of our movements."

"Aye, Sir." the two lieutenants bent back over their consoles. Five minutes after Barnes had given the order, ten missiles, his entire port broadside, ripped out from his ship and rocketed off towards a massive asteroid that was roughly of a size with an Imperial cruiser.

_Resolute_ fired approximately thirty seconds after, and their ten missiles raced to catch up with Barnes'. The twenty missiles roared towards the two target asteroids, massive chunks of rocks that were 'planet-killers', as the science community termed them. One minute after launch, the barrage impacted.

The asteroids flew apart in balls of thermonuclear fury as the missiles tore them apart. Shattered rocks flew away, smashing into other asteroids and generally creating havoc. Barnes looked on approvingly, "Well done Tactical. Let's¾"

He was cut off by the sudden shrieking of the astro section. The ensign manning the station looked up, "Multiple inbound contacts Skipper. Thirty plus capital ships, nearly a hundred small fry: cruiser and destroyer sizes."

"Understood." Barnes looked over at Lieutenant Rawlins, com officer, "Send a burst message back to Admiral DeSoto, inform him that we are under attack by one hundred and thirty plus hostiles. The Alliance said they wouldn't be sending anyone over here, and I doubt they could raise this kind of force anyway."

"Sending now, Sir." Rawlins input the warning and fired it off towards the Terran flagship, warning the fleet that the Imperial Fleet had returned to the system.

Only two minutes had elapsed since the training exercise had been cut brutally short, to Barnes it felt like hours. He looked over at the screen showing the massive attacking fleet bearing down on the two tiny dots which were the destroyers. Barnes looked over at the Tactical station again, "Lieutenant Meares, you may open fire."

Admiral DeSoto strode hurriedly onto his flag deck, still bleary-eyed with sleep. He sat down at his console and brought up the original warning message from HMS _Defiant_, staring at his console as his mind raced. The numbers reported by Lieutenant Commander Barnes told him that this was the Empire's hammer blow that was supposed to shatter his forces and send them scurrying back to Earth.

He rubbed his eyes as he thought over his options. With his current dispositions, he had three squadrons of dreadnoughts, four squadrons of battlecruisers, and a host of smaller cruisers and destroyers. His total ship strength came to roughly seventy, which meant the enemy already outnumbered him quite severely.

"Time until missile range?" He asked his flag captain.

"The enemy fleet will reach extreme missile range in approximately one hour Sir," said Captain Gregory, "After that, barring any course corrections that may be implemented, we'll reach energy range two hours after that."

DeSoto rubbed his chin in thought as his ships sped towards the encroaching Imperial fleet. His surviving picket ships were racing back to the planet at their best speeds, to begin evacuation of the planet of the Terrans that had come there. The order had been sent automatically as soon as the contact warning had come through.

If the Empire did win here, it would be extremely easy for the Imperium to retake the system, especially since a new fleet had been assembled in the Terran home system that boasted the first few squadrons of superdreadnoughts. Without the ability to detect where the wormhole in this system was, the Empire would not be able to adequately defend this system, thereby making any fight now of passing consequence.

Unfortunately, a treaty had been more or less signed between the Rebel Alliance and the Grand Imperium. Because of that treaty, DeSoto's outnumbered fleet had a duty to defend this world, even at the cost of their own lives.

He nodded to himself, "Captain, fleet wide channel if you please."

Gregory nodded to his comm officer who punched in a code and then indicated that DeSoto could speak.

"This is Admiral DeSoto. The Empire has sent a force into this system with the objective of wiping out the planetary population, and destroying our presence in this system." He paused for a moment and then continued, "This cannot be allowed to happen. The Emperor expects each and every one of you to do your duty. DeSoto clear."

He turned back to his display as the red broadcast light winked out and then said, "Close with the enemy Captain Gregory."

Captain Jacobs stood beside Commodore Edgars on the bridge of the _Imperator_, the _Victory_-class Star Destroyer which was the flagship for the heavy frigate squadron that Edgars commanded. The small picket ships that had been sitting out here had been destroyed with ease, and now the massive fleet, composed of over thirty Star Destroyers, and about one hundred and fifty other ships, swept into the system. It was the largest concentration of firepower that Jacobs had seen in his entire career, and yet the fleet arrayed in front of the Imperials was, according to intelligence reports, only a fraction of the enemies total strength.

The capital ships that the Terrans had out massed the Star Destroyers under Draykon's by a few thousand tons, but they had only twenty of them, and none of their 'battle cruisers' came close. However, while the Imperial Fleet certainly was larger than the Terrans', the enemy would still be able to hammer them with those damn missiles for almost half an hour before the Imperials could begin shooting with their turbo lasers; that half hour would be deadly, especially to the smaller craft charged with missile defence.

"Signal from Admiral Draykon Sir," said the communications rating in one of the pits beside the walkway.

"Onscreen." said Jacobs.

Draykon's face appeared in the communication's holo screen, "Soldiers of the Empire! Today we have returned to Chandrila to crush the despicable invaders that slaughtered our brothers earlier this year. Now the full might of the Empire has been brought to bear upon them, and we shall triumph!"

The message ended, and the holo screen went dark. Across the mighty ships there were cheers, as the soldiers and sailors of the Empire got ready to gain vengeance for the utter defeat of the previous Imperial Fleet to enter the system. This time, the Empire was ready…this time there would be no retreat.

Admiral DeSoto watched the tactical screen as his fleet accelerated towards the invading Imperials, and his heart felt like it would break inside him as he watched the gallantry of his men and women as they hurtled towards their deaths. No one wavered, and no one attempted to run as the Terran Expeditionary Fleet went out to meet the foe.

"Communications, get me a fleet wide channel."

"Yes Sir," a few seconds went by, "Live mike Admiral."

"Ladies and Gentlemen," said DeSoto, "The Empire has come to this system again, intent on destroying its inhabitants, and those who would seek to defend their homes from the ravages of war. All that stands between the billions of Chandrilans and the guns of the Empire, is us: the men and women of the Imperial Terran Navy. Today, we have been called to defend those who cannot defend themselves, and we shall do so. Ladies and Gentlemen…it has been a privilege and an honour."

The link was still open as cheers from his ships came roaring out of the receiver. The sailors of the Imperial Terran Navy had seen footage of atrocities visited on other worlds that the Empire had decided needed to be cowed. They also knew that it would have been easy for DeSoto to simply retreat through the wormhole and wait for reinforcements. They even knew that because he hadn't many, if not most, of them were going to die. Despite all of that, they cheered, because even when gravely outnumbered and fighting in a war not of their making, the men and women of Terra had a tradition to uphold, and they would uphold it, even in another galaxy.

Cliff hanger! The climactic battle will take place in the next chapter. J


End file.
